How have Iranian women developed throughout Iran’s history?

The foundation and bond of a family has always relied upon women, they are commonly known as the glue that holds the pieces of a family together. In this case it refers to the responsibilities of maintaining the house by taking care of the children alongside household chores including cleaning, cooking and grocery. A male in the family on the other hand is primarily responsible for the financial stability of the household but, women were always capable of doing more. This includes taking part in the financial areas as well by earning and adding on to the growth of the family’s finances. This common misconception has been a primary problem that Iran has always struggled with. Iran has always viewed women as inferior to men since the beginning of history. However, women had to seek for opportunities to overcome this norm. They had to be efficient in demonstrating their capabilities of being more than just a housewife to the society. Two such time periods where women found plenty of opportunities include the Pahlavi era and right after the Islamic Revolution. This paper discusses the question of how have women of Iran have carved a path into finding their true identity in society?

Throughout history gender segregation was always an issue for Iran. Women have faced struggles like abusive relationships, workplaces that exploit them and lack of representation to the government. In the beginning with no option to fight back, they had nothing to do but tolerate it. Significant women activities start during the Qajar dynasty. Women covered for jobs that men didn’t do or sometimes when there was a job with no labor in hand, women would coverup for those positions. They worked at manufacturing jobs which were more hands-on work whereas men were needed for muscle intensive jobs. Women of lower class filled the jobs of maids and cleaners of public bath houses and a few women worked as entertainers too. These jobs allowed women to feel valued by allowing them to feel independent since they were earning their own income. Even if very little they were earning something and represented a small portion of the work force in the economy. Being underpaid was not a major concern at the moment for these women. For once they were able to earn a paycheck from their hard work. Many women still struggled in keeping their jobs as the dominant male in the household would take the earning or sometimes deny them the right to continue their job. However, there was a huge movement which was the significant start of all feminism movements onward. The Tobacco protest and the Constitutional Revolution played huge roles in women becoming activists. Mainly in the Constitutional Revolution women influenced the policies that could be made even if they couldn’t decide it. It was a significant turning point forward for women of that time which led to more movements taking place later on. Following the Qajar dynasty came the Pahlavi dynasty led by Reza Shah and then his successor Mohammed Reza Shah.

Both Shah’s helped women have a huge impact on society. They gave women more rights and allowed them to be more expressive. Unfortunately, there were a few harsh laws that were placed by the first, Reza Shah, the de-veiling of women forcefully. This was done with police force that pulled the hijab forcefully from women. All being a part of his modernization plan. He wanted to bring westernization into the culture. However, when his son took rule more rights were enforced, and the brutality had died down. In chapter four of ‘Women and Politics in Iran: Veiling, Unveiling, and Reveiling’ we learn about Mohammed Reza Shah’s policies. The issues of gender and equality of Iran were being mended by Ashraf Pahlavi, the twin sister of the Shah. The Shah arranged the Women’s Organization of Iran with his twin sister as president to organize the women of Iran. The FPL (Family Protection Law) was introduced from then. The FPL set up many new laws into place such as marriage laws, minimum age required for marriage, conditions of divorcing another person. The FPL addressed more issues in ensuring women rights were increased significantly. Focusing on child custody and how women could go about on applying for child custody. Another thing the FPL had huge impact on was polygamy, this gave women a chance to fight back to the power of men. The state even legalized abortion to give women rights to decline having a child on the other hand it also helped control the population of Iran. The FPL mostly helped wealthier women and some educated middle-class women. Under the Shah’s rule women had the ability to seek for jobs and enjoy their employment benefits. However, many husbands prevented their wife from going to work as a working wife with income would diminish their power as the income head of the house. But even then, many women worked to contribute to the family. Others preferred staying at home and being their own boss while the husband does all the works. In general women were making progress in getting their rights throughout time. But there always remained the fact of women being paid lower wage compared to men which was always an issue. Overall, women gained more rights, compared to the rule of the Qajar dynasty, but are still not being treated as equals compared to men.

After the 1979 Revolution Iran changed itself to an Islamic Republic. Women at that time had more opportunities. Because of their huge impact in the revolution the women that participated in the revolution had gained confidence and denied going back into their past ways. Which mostly consisted of them being exploited and told what to do. When Ayatollah Khomeini came into power, he enforced the Shah’s laws at the beginning. During the Iran-Iraq War he allowed women to cover for all the men that had been participating in the war. The women at that time covered most of the workforce in Iran. This gave them huge representation in the country for that time. But overtime when Khomeini started introducing his Islamic beliefs of women being dressed in modest Islamic clothes, he started enforcing laws that started restricting women to their old ways. Men were once again given permission for polygamy and early marriage of children. He disbanded the work of FPL under the Shah’s. Men once again tried to reinforce rule, hindering the freedom of choice women have attained through history. Women not wanting to cause an uproar subdued to the wants of men however very few retaliate. While these laws were created to aid in the progression of women rights, it seems that the past repeats itself in history as women once again loose there restricted still unequal rights compared to men. This was a huge step back for all the progress that women had made. However, after his death under President Rafsanjani women were again encouraged to chase higher education, get jobs in more advanced fields which include working in several scientific fields. The state of Iran was again stabilizing.

The progress can be seen in the constitution of Iran where it appoints both men and women as equals. In Article 3 it states that everyone has equal access and rights to free education, physical training, and also that there is a favorable environment for growth. Along with other laws which ask for better living conditions and equality of all. Adding on to this there are the Articles 19 through 23 it states all the rights of women in specifics. A few of them being how they have the right to protection during pregnancy and labor, as well as the child. This gives us an idea of how everyone has right to equal protection under the law. That everyone should be treated equally and fairly. However, there are a few problems in the constitution as well, specifically when it states that men and women have equal claim over the law but only if it conforms to the “Islamic criteria.” This can be a huge problem as the words ‘Islamic criteria’ can be interpreted in different ways by different people which creates a lot of conflict. Some of those conflicts exist in the current country of Iran right now. One such example that has occurred recently is talked about in a news report, “’Blue Girl’: Iran’s Football Fan, Denied Stadium Entry, Dies.” According to Aljazeera, a middle eastern online news platform, describes a tragic event occurring in Tehran, Iran. Sahar Khodayari was an Iranian female football fan, who pretended to be a male fan to gain access to the football stadium. After receiving the news that she would face two years imprisonment, she burned herself in the court room. However, by the time she was taken to the hospital her body was ninety percent covered in burns she was ninety percent covered in burns and received severe damage to her lungs. Even though women are not banned from entering the stadium she was charged for not adhering to the 1979 Iranian law to cover her head. Sahar Khodayari’s attempt for justice, grasped the public’s attention shedding light upon gender inequality in Iranian society. This demonstrates the struggles women face in Iran till this day.

Throughout our course we have watched several films that demonstrate the struggles of these women. ‘A Seperation’ by Asghar Farahani shows us how the courthouse supports the husband in a family in getting a divorce giving them the custody of the children and ignoring to listen to the wife’s side of a story. ‘Leila’ by Darjush Mehrjui where a wife of a family is pressured by her mother-in-law to allow her husband to get a second wife as she is not able to provide them with a child. The societal pressure women also had to face regardless of what rights or employment they had. ‘Bashu the little stranger’ by Bahram Bejzai where we see one mother taking in a random kid as a part of her family. Throughout the film the mother supports all of her children all alone, taking care of them both in terms of providing food and also showing love and affection with their daily chores. Finally, “The Salesman” by Asghar Farahani once again where a wife gets raped, but the assaulter gets forgiven by her. Her husband’s pride takes over in trying to find the person that did it, not caring what his wife thinks or what her opinion is. His ego suffers more than the wife’s mental state. All these films highlight the societal pressure women had to face throughout history regardless of what their civil rights were. The law and even their own husbands and families were all against them.

More examples of present-day struggles of Iranian women even with all these rights are highlighted on various online videos. A few of those include “Why Iranian women are posting pictures of their uncovered hair.” Where Vox news sheds light upon women in Iranian, through the voice of Masih Alinejad a journalist and activist for women’s rights. Alinejad expresses that some women wear a hijab for religious and cultural reasons while others are forced to due to the 1979 Iranian law. Due to this law 3.6 million women were charged, warned, or arrested for not complying. Alinejad aids Iranian women raise awareness by posting pictures of women not wearing a hijab. Alinejad hopes to be the voice of these women since she has the freedom to fight and bring societies attention to the inequality of Iranian women. Another one “How Iran’s Hijab Protests Went Viral.” In which VICE news draws attention to women in Iran protesting the tradition of wearing a hijab. It shows Iranian women taking charge of their life and drawing public awareness towards this topic from the government since the laws about veiling are still unchanged. Once again, Masih Alinejad shows herself as the mastermind of the social media accounts to help create public awareness towards Iranian women. However, the Iranian government sees no purpose in these protests as they will not change the law.

In conclusion, the women’s movement in Iran is an inspiring model for feminist rights movement under strict government. The constant attempts at earning their rights, with the active part taking in society will keep on inspiring women of today to do the same if ever they fall in the same shoes. Despite intense repression at the state and societal levels Iranian gender activists have often converged in practice to collaborate over their common goals. The persistence from these activists have allowed women of Iran to develop into having whatever rights they have now. All the suffrage and exploitation has helped shape their future as a crucial fundamental element in the country of Iran. The women of Iran have come a long way in earning their deserved rights. With the help of social media and international pressure they can do much more, the government will be forced to listen to their demands in modern Iran which will help them live in further peaceful and happy life.

WORK CITED

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